Surface Treatment to Enhance Photocatalytic Activity of ZnS Complex Nanostructure via a Post-Synthesis Route

ZnS nanosheet composed solely by wurtzite (001) face was synthesized in concentrated NaOH solution. The sample was subjected to surface treatment and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) atomic force microscope (AFM). We further used the nanosheet for investigating the photocatalytic activity under different surface adsorption states. The photocatalytic activity after surface treatment was evaluated by the decolorization of rhodamine B (RhB) under UV irradiation. We found that the photocatalytic activity was greatly enhanced after surface modification. The microscopic change in the surface state was described in detail and the related mechanism was discussed. For the potential application in environmental protection, we have also done the cycle performance experiment. We propose that the surface modification strategy is beneficial for reasonably designing and exploring novel photocatalyst.